


Straight on 'til Morning

by butterflycell



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Epilogue, Established Relationship, Multi, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 08:32:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/976673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflycell/pseuds/butterflycell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the tenth anniversary of the now infamous Lost Boys' Ink in Riverside, Iowa, Inked have been given an exclusive look into the inner workings of the shop. With rare access to the founder, Leo 'Bones' McCoy, I take a trip up Highway 22 to discuss the unprecedented rise to fame that his shop has taken over the past five years. Tempered by the presence of long-term partner and regular canvas, Jim Kirk, I get a feel for the atmosphere inside one of the most popular and respected joints in the industry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Straight on 'til Morning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [slashsailing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashsailing/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Lost Boys' Ink.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/948860) by [slashsailing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashsailing/pseuds/slashsailing). 



> Inspired by slashsailing's fic, and thought up whilst playing with trying out some photomanips of Bones and Kirk with ink.

  
  

 

For the past five years, anyone who's anyone has wanted to get inked at one shop, and one shop only. It would seemed natural to assume that you'd have to fork out for a stay in New York, or perhaps LA. The last place you'd think to look is a small town off Highway 22, nestled in the heart of Iowa.

Take a trip there, and you'd maybe start to understand. Riverside has a population of around a thousand people, and is everything the name might suggest, with a handful of diners and stores on the main street that could be found in any other rural area across the country. What makes Riverside unique is the dark blue store-front and neon sign of Lost Boys Ink, which will be celebrating its ten year anniversary in just a few weeks.

As tattoo shops go, it doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary on first glance, but once you step inside, the charm starts to take hold. The walls are covered with murals of old-school tattoos and intricate traditional Japanese work, indicating the trademarks of the artists inside. If you have a few days spare, it'd be worth your while to camp out in the waiting area and flick through the piles of sketchbooks and portfolios, filled with yet more work.

There are only three chairs in the single, large room, signalling the ethos of the place before even speaking with the enigmatic shop manager, Gaila, with her intricate botanical sleeves and friendly smile. She shows me around as we wait for the shop's owner, Leo “Bones” McCoy, to arrive in the shop. Gaila is happy to recount endless amusing anecdotes over a cup of coffee. We end up joined by her wife, Christine Chapel, who is responsible for the shop's unprecedented reputation for traditional Japanese work.

Shortly after, the newest member of the team emerges from the back-room with a client who's practically giddy over his very own piece of “Scotty”. It's the outline of downtown Chicago in a simple, monotone design wrapped around his bicep with a neat piece of text slotted below. As skyline tattoos go, it's one of the best examples I've seen in the past few years.

Time passes in a blur, and it's easy to see why people wait months to get a booking with Lost Boys. In fact, I'm just about to ask where McCoy has gotten to when the man himself walks in, hand in hand with his long-term partner and shop patron, Jim Kirk.

It's Kirk who bounds forwards, with an easy and affable charm, shaking hands and introducing himself with a boyish exuberance that wouldn't normally be expected of someone studying an doctorate in Astrophysics. But he's there nonetheless, and he's also the one who drags McCoy forwards and makes him introduce himself. McCoy's just as surly as I've been lead to believe, but he makes a clear effort to be welcoming and relaxed, asking us if we found the place okay. He moves us over to the seating area and I take a seat on the old leather sofa by the door whilst he draws up his work chair to sit across from me.

Kirk's the one to play host, offering food and coffee and generally bouncing around the shop, and McCoy seems to be endlessly amused by the other man's behaviour. Eventually, after more small talk and a fresh round of drinks, everyone settles round for the interview, Kirk insisting on leaving them to it, before settling for leaning against the counter beside McCoy after a short and admittedly childish debate. The other three roll their eyes and Gaila laughs in a way that makes it obvious that this is perfectly normal for the couple.

The familial atmosphere is a pleasant change to many of the shops I've visited in my time. It's clear that the three artists are close friends, and the mutual respect and dedication to their work makes the shop dynamic comfortable. The addition of Gaila and Kirk seems to balance the naturally intense natures of McCoy and Christine, and Scotty seems intent to go with the flow. Its not long before talk turns to the art that each of them have, and it's revealed that all of them have at least one thing from each of the artists.

Naturally, the subject of Kirk's ink comes to the spotlight.

\--

_**So I hear you got your first piece on your eighteenth birthday.** _

**Jim Kirk** : I did – I'd been slinking past the shop for months and saving my money since the summer. I came in a couple of months before and booked in for a full day.

 _**Your first tattoo and you went for a full day? That's impressive – I know veterans who wouldn't go for more than a couple of hours at a time.**_ [I seem to miss something then, because all of them glance at McCoy, who scowls slightly. Kirk nudges him with his foot and laughs slightly.]

 **JK** : So do I. But yeah, I just wanted to get inked, and I wanted a reason to spend as much time as possible in here. Bones [ _McCoy_ ] drew up the design and it was love at first sight. The moment I saw it, I knew I wanted it on my body.

_**I'm guessing from the sleeves that you didn't stop there.** _

**JK** : Of course not – I went straight onto a chest piece – but the sleeves were gradual. The Japanese arm is almost entirely Christine's work, but the other is a mix and match of the guys and a couple of shops in Chicago whilst I was at college.

_**Leo, how do you feel about other people inking up Jim?** _

**Leo McCoy** : I'm happy with these two [ _he gestures to Scotty and Christine_ ] and I've had ink from one of the shops in Chicago myself. I know the others by reputation, and I can't really complain. As long as they don't go near my stuff or do something badly, I'm fine.

_**You've said before that Jim's tattoos are some of your best work. Is there any piece in particular that's your favourite?** _

**LM** : My favourite is probably the one I enjoyed working on the most, because it was a gift rather than a paid commission.

[Kirk grins then and tugs down the neck of his black Henley, revealing the central chunk of his chest piece with the script 'Homeward Bound' strung across the base of his neck. From images I've seen of McCoy's work in the past, I know that the words are the top boarder for a nautical chest piece, made up of McCoy's trade-mark mix of realism and old-school.]

 **JK** : That's only his favourite because he had to straddle me at one point.

[Everyone laughs at that comment and McCoy looks ready to tear into Kirk, but a fond hand to the back of McCoy's neck eases the embarrassment. McCoy is a notoriously private man, and has a reputation for keeping himself to himself at the best of times.]

 **LM** : Actually sitting and designing it meant the most to me though. It's the only large scale piece I've done on him, and I had free reign to design what I wanted. Not many artists get to do that in this line of work, let alone on a loved one. Jim's an idiot for letting me do it, but almost a decade later and we both still like it.

\--

We talk some more about the general history of the shop and the various types of people who walk in or book appointments. It becomes apparent that not only do they have people crossing the country for some ink, they regularly have clients from Canada and Europe. This, more than anything, seems to baffle McCoy. From admittedly humble beginnings in Atlanta and Mississippi, he hadn't thought to have found such fame in Riverside, Iowa.

 **LM** : It's strange really. I guess I built some of my name up in San Francisco, but I didn't have many who followed me up here. Same with Christine, really. Things all kicked off at a convention in Chicago a few years ago.

 **Christine Chapel** : Yeah, we were planning to drop in on a visit to see Jim at college, but it was weird. People were recognising Gaila's arms and Leonard's hands and word seemed to get around that we were there.

 **Scotty** : I had a stall there at the time, and Jim had smuggled me a book filled with all the work from this place that he'd collated over the years. Leo kinda stomped over and was about to ring my neck when Jim turned up and saved my arse – I got a job offer out of it though.

 **LM** : It's hard for someone like me to go from a comfortable anonymity to being hounded by wannabe famous people wanting my work because it was 'cool'. I turned a lot of them away.

 **CC** : Yeah, we completely shut down to walk-ins for quite a while, and Leo refused to do anything that wasn't of a certain size and custom drawn.

 **Gaila** : The weird thing is that it didn't stop the interest, it just brought respect. Some of the best art this place has produced was done over that period.

McCoy looks increasingly more uncomfortable with the conversation, and it's only then that I notice that Kirk's hand hasn't left his neck. In fact, his thumb is stroking gently across one of the wings there – a part of an eagle that wraps round the back of his neck and spreads from ear to ear. The touch seems to be keeping McCoy grounded, and I realise how privileged I am to have been allowed to do this interview.

_**I must say, this is one of the best shops I've been in – definitely one of the more relaxing.** _

**JK** : Just wait 'til you get inked here.

**_I fully intend to – I've been on the waiting list for a few months now._ **

**JK** : Really? [ _Kirk lights up at this_ ] What're you thinking of?

 _**I want to extend a bicep tattoo into a sleeve.**_ [I raise the sleeve of my t-shirt and show them the art nouveau design – all three of the artists seem to switch modes and start conferring about what could be done, with Christine gesturing.]

 **JK** : Don't worry, they do this all the time. I've been in coffee shops with them and they've suddenly started trying to rework come crappy little chinese symbol they see on a girl's shoulder.

 **G** : Christine has a particular problem with those kitsch little things on celebrities. She's made me stop watching Access Hollywood because of it before.

 **JK** : Don't even get me started on Bones – he once tried to Sharpie the rest of a design in when I came home with something half done.

 **LM** : [ _interrupting_ ] I can't believe Mitchell let you leave half finished.

 **JK** : He was training and we had dinner planned. Would you rather I missed our reservation?

 **LM** : I thought I'd trained him better than that.

 **JK** : [ _rolling his eyes_ ] He's doing fine, M'Benga loves him.

Gary Mitchell, winner of Young Tattoo Artist of the Year, is currently working with veteran M'Benga at 'Fleet Ink, San Francisco. M'Benga and McCoy have been friends and colleagues for over a decade, and occasionally still collaborate on pieces. The mention of Mitchell brings up the key topic of McCoy's determination to provide opportunities for upcoming artists.

**_It's rare that apprenticeships are given at places like this, these days, especially ones as intensive as what you offer._ **

**LM** : It's important to provide proper training, and it's ridiculously hard to find a decent place these days. So many kids pick up needles and ink in the bedrooms and practice on their friends and it's just not safe. Besides, there always needs to be people producing good art.

 **CC** : We make sure the creative side of things is properly looked at, as well as the technical. Pretty much all of the kids that come through here have to sign up to art classes at the local college.

 **LM** : If I'm putting my name and my shop behind someone, I want them to be the best damned artist out there. Mitchell was the first to finish his apprenticeship, and he's doing great things for himself down south. We have a couple of new kids in at the moment too, and they're pretty promising.

 **S** : The pride this guy takes in his work is phenomenal. Any kid who gets the chance to train here would be a complete idiot to throw it away.

McCoy scowls again at this and Kirk seems to shift closer. He seems to be uncomfortable taking any form of attention from those outside of his small group, and treats compliments with caution and distrust. I mention this to him.

 **LM** : When people compliment my drawing or my work, I can take it with a smile because my personal skill and talent, but when people compliment me on things that are just plain sensible, I get uncomfortable. People shouldn't think it's out of the ordinary to make sure their reputation stays in tact, or that they train someone to be the best they can be. People certainly shouldn't compliment me on being picky about what ink I put on people. Ultimately, it's an entirely selfish thing. I refuse to put anything out into the world, to have my name tied to something, that isn't good enough.

 **JK** : He's also socially backwards and gets flustered whenever someone is impressed by what he does.

\--

Kirk lightens the conversation easily, in a way that hints at him having taken the role of balancing out his partner. The rest grin in acknowledgement and Gaila has to get up to greet a client. I take that as my cue to leave and thank all of them for their time. Christine tells me to call later in the week to talk about my possible tattoo and Scotty chips in with design points where he can.

Still seated, McCoy is leaning against Kirk, with Kirk running his hands through his hair. They're murmuring something to each other and if that was all I'd seen of the pair, it would be obvious that Kirk is as integral to the success of this shop as much as any of the employees.

If McCoy is the bones of the operation - Christine the head, and Scotty and Gaila the limbs - then Kirk is most definitely the heart.


End file.
